Chapter 8
eight
Aelendir had forced a shovel into my hands before disappearing back into the snow. After calling him a few choice names, I tossed it to the side and began exploring the stables. I needed a weapon, and the power of the dragons was still fresh in mind.
Only after double-checking that he was out of eyesight did I sneak out. The forest was just beyond the line of stables, containing the same barren, bending trees that made my skin crawl. So instead of venturing into the woods, I kept to the stables.
They’d built them with perfect order, each in a set of four blocks. As I weaved through them, I remained close to the walls, letting the dark wood shield me. In the distance, there was distinct singing, and the deeper I got into the stables, the louder it became.
The stables themselves appeared endless—there must have been a hundred or more. A few riders were walking through the lines of stables, and I had to turn corners quickly to avoid them.
Better to know thy enemy before you dare approach them.
Despite the labyrinth of snowy corridors, the centerpiece was a large, open snow-flecked field, with riders running back and forth, and caring for full-sized dragons.
I stopped before the knoll, cowering behind a stable, observing silently.
The riders were dressed in the same garb Aelendir and I wore, but also armed with longswords and bows, with many practicing close combat.
Those who weren’t were instructing runes—the same ones I saw back in Ilyatria.
Many riders sung and danced to the dragons, encouraging the runes to form on the ground.
They’d cease their song, and the sigil would explode into a thousand bright shards, melting the surrounding snow and blasting a small crater.
The runes they created now were far smaller than the ones they were weaving back in Ilyatria.
Must have been holding back to limit damage.
If you got caught above one, there wasn’t any recourse beyond being shredded or burned alive. That was a guaranteed death.
My father had unnatural magic, but I’d watch the sigils flay men into pieces. He could best me wielding a blade—but he couldn’t best a dragon. I pressed my lids together and imagined what would be left of him if he got caught above one.
There wasn't any other way. If I were to take his head, I’d need a dragon.
But where would I begin? I wasn’t raised with these things, nor did I have any idea of how to train them besides the few minutes I’d spent observing.
I spotted one I’phri woman training not far from where I hid.
“Maybe if I ask nicely, she’ll help,” I muttered. “I doubt Aelen would. He’s such a bastard.” I started toward the clearing.
“Am I now?” Aelen asked from behind, prompting me to jump.
He took the opportunity to grab me by the collar and shove me against the nearest stable.
“I understand you’re accustomed to the safety of the castle, but you’ll find no such protection here.
Those people want your blood, and should they even get a whiff of that pact, they will have your head quicker than you can beg for your life. ”
I fought, my muscles screaming as I thrashed to escape, but he caged me beneath his arms. There was nowhere to run. “Let go!”
His grin confirmed he wanted me to know I couldn’t move a goddamn inch.
His misty breath caressed my cheeks, and I hated how that warmed my thighs. Even now, he was far too handsome, with a dangerous edge lacing his smile.
“I will stop when you realize the danger you’re putting yourself in. Stay away from the other I’phri. Especially the dragon riders.”
I tried to kick him, but to no avail. He pressed his weight into me, pinning me further. “You’re not going anywhere until you swear you’ll stay away from them.”
“If I agree, will you go away?” And stop following me.
His grin widened, baring a set of sharp incisors. “Only if you mean it. Your father’s title precedes you, and these people won’t hesitate to slaughter his kin.”
“And why do you care? Just yesterday, you threatened my life.”
His lips twitched. “My desires are none of your business. Mind your own, adhere to my advice, and I’ll keep you breathing. You have my word.”
I hated him—utterly despised the man—yet his warning rang with an ounce of earnestness.
Even with that, the I'phri was a liar and I found it difficult to believe him.
“Teach me how to use the dragon’s magic, and I’ll agree to whatever you want.”
His mouth fell agape, and his face blazed. “How dare you! You do not use dragons, you work with them. They aren’t cattle—they are the gods’ messengers and deserve respect.”
“Fine, I’ll respect them.”
“No. If you get within the same breath as them, they’ll eat you where you stand.
They are dangerous and without proper training and bonding, unpredictable.
I can’t promise your safety if you’re in the same vicinity as a dragon.
” He shook his head and released me, but continued to loom.
I didn’t bother to fight again. Pushing him off would only be wasted effort.
“I need their power to kill my father.”
“Find another way,” he spat. After releasing a breath, his features softened. “I’ll have you know my father was just as foul a man as yours—and like you, I had the displeasure of knowing him all too well. I understand you need to answer the pact, but you must find another way.”
His decision to open up now felt suspicious, like he was trying to lure me into a false sense of security.
“Why are you telling me this?”
He stepped back enough to let me brush off my leathers. “You called me a bastard. I wish your insults to be accurate.”
“You’re an ass.”
He grinned. “Better. You’re terrible at mucking, though. You’ve done none of it.”
“Good, I hope to do a bad enough job you reassign me, and never think of relegating me to such lowly work again.”
He circled me. “To what? You’ve got no skills.”
That one was sharp, digging in deep. “Neither do you!”
He cocked his head. “And we return to the inaccurate. How predictable of a human. Why do you think I have you cleaning the stables? I’m one of the best trainers and need mine mucked.” He leaned in. “You think I’d waste my time lifting a shovel when I could have a princess do it for me?”
My cheeks heated. What an utter bastard, waste of space, waste of breath. Still, my gaze couldn’t help but wander to the distant screeching beasts.
I shoved past him, being careful to knock him with my shoulder. “I’m not cleaning stables.”
He didn’t stumble. “Everyone begins with mucking. You don’t just get to climb aboard.”
“I’m not doing your menial labor. I’m going to find someone who will help me,” I said, pointing to the open field and many trainers. “If you won’t teach me, one of them will.”
He stepped aside so I could walk past, but his voice floated up to me. “Bad idea, princess. Let’s stop while we’re ahead.”
“They couldn’t do worse than put me back on mucking duty.”
He jumped before me, cutting off my path, and marched toward me until I had no choice but to retreat.
“You are so godsdamn stupid. They could and they would. My people want you dead, as I’ve spelled out six different ways.
Tell me, how do I get you to understand these simple words?
” He clicked his tongue and hissed something in an unintelligible language—clearly a curse.
He grabbed my palm and thrust it upward until the pact flashed and burned.
“Princess Liliana, born of the monster Arthvur, with your name marked up and down your flesh. They wouldn’t even give you a chance to scream.”
“But you would?”
He pressed closer. “I’d love the chance to make you scream.”
My cheeks heated like a wildfire, and I shoved past him back toward the stables and forest. I wouldn’t be mucking, but I’d leave the I’phri be if it meant I didn’t have to be in the same vicinity as him.
I’d retreated to the stables hoping to study the beast, and sort how to wield their magic. Yet I was uncomfortable being too close, so I kept at a distance behind a bale. I was hoping this would get me away from the bastard I’phri, but he followed me in here.
“You’re doing a great job, princess,” Aelen remarked, leaning back against the wooden stall and pointing to the untouched shovel. “I thought better of you.”
Why would I expect to study the dragons in peace? Of course, he’d disturb any solace I may have.
“That was your first mistake. Keep talking, and I swear I’ll cut out that tongue. I’m not cleaning your damn stables.” I reached to my side and let my fingers graze the knife handle. I’d thus far managed to not murder him, but my patience was a rapidly drying well. He could only push me so far.
He straightened and lunged from the stable wall. “I wouldn’t do that, if I were you,” he gritted.
I pulled the blade and flashed it. “Or what, little stable boy?”
His cheek twitched. “Enough!” The floor around him engulfed in flame from nowhere, lighting the hay. All around us, flickering embers floated toward the wooden ceiling. We were in a tiny tinderbox, and I was about to die.
I stumbled back, trying to escape the rapidly growing flames as the heat singed my skin. “I am centuries your elder, and you will not disrespect me!”
Behind me, the dragon groaned and lifted his head, rattling the shackles mournfully.
He let out a tired huff, and the ground around me and across the stables bloomed an azure rune that shifted, encircling itself until water began to form, pooling and soaking my trousers.
Then, it began to rain indoors. I gazed up, but there weren’t any clouds, only a thick mist.
My breath hitched deep in my chest. He’d almost killed me.
But Aelendir still raged, the flames gone yet somehow still dancing behind his eyes. “Never call me that again." His jaw tightened until he gritted, "Do we have an understanding?”
Somewhere, I crossed a line in the sand only visible to him. I despised the ass, but I didn’t have a death wish. So I swallowed, only to find my mouth had dried. I shifted in the hay and nodded, my heart still thrumming the tune of death.
“I’ll stick to Aelendir,” I said, the concession like knives.
“Aelen will do. I know the I’phri tongue must be a lot for your people.”
“What—a nickname?”
“There’s no familiarity to it. I’d hate it. Derivatives are distasteful.” He turned until his face and emotions were hidden. “But you mispronounce it every time, and that’s somehow worse.”
“Fine,” I managed to spit. I kept my tone under control. I wouldn’t let him know I was afraid. Then he’d win. I’d never let this bastard—this I’phri—get the upper hand. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever. “I’ll have the last laugh.”
“Then have it. Return to the cottage before I lose my temper or my people skin you alive. I’d make haste before you get lost in the woods and the forest consumes you.” He didn’t wait for me, hurrying into the snow.
There goes studying the dragons, or any dream of making progress.
I ignored him but kept close at his heel. Though I needed to stay, the idea of being left alone here filled me with a visceral terror. But before I went more than a few steps, he put his hand on my chest and stopped me.
“Don’t wander in the thick snowfall. You will perish.”
A chill crawled up my spine. While I was terrified of wandering through the snow alone, being near Aelen was a far more horrifying thought.
Aelen was eager to leave after depositing me in the cottage, but my quick voice stopped him.
“Do you have any candles?”
His lips contorted, and he raised a brow. “What for? I lit the hearth fire.”
“The shadows,” I said in a low voice. “They shift.” I despised asking him for help, but I hated the shadows far more than any animosity I held for him. I doubted he’d help, but it was worth asking.
“Mm, yes. They do have a habit of doing that.” He scratched his cheek before darting into the snow, the door creaking to close behind him.
Of course, he would leave me with the terrifying shadows. What did I expect of him? I don’t know why I bothered to ask.
But before I settled into the dim room and kicked myself, he reappeared in the doorway, slamming it open and cracking the thin wood on its hinges. He clutched a small lantern lit by a flickering blue flame. After raising it and confirming I saw it, he laid it on the table.
“Why is it blue?”
Is it impetus? It was the same color as the telltale sapphire threads wrapped around our kingdom—the very same that exploded from my father.
The event washed over me, and one name tried to force itself into my mind.
Even in my thoughts, the bloodied head tugged at my heart and burned the corners of my eyes.
“It’s magic. You look pale. You should consider sitting before you wilt on the floor.”
“I’ll be fine.” I gripped the table’s edge to steady myself and drove my nails into the wood.
Aelen shifted uneasily. Eventually, he merely pointed to the lantern. “The flame won’t die.” After shaking his head, he stomped to the threshold.
“Wait—you’re just going to leave?”
He hesitated. In the dark corners where the lantern light couldn’t reach, the shadows stirred restlessly. “If you have need of me, call my name. I’ll come.”
“Anywhere? How will you hear me?”
He gripped the doorframe. “With my long, glorious ears, of course. Nothing you’d know of.”
“So now we turn to insults. There’s no way you could hear me out in the middle of the forest with the wind blowing—”
“I said I’ll hear, and I said I’ll come,” he gritted, before slamming the door behind him.
I melted into the lounge by the fireplace and stared at the bright lantern, enjoying the safety of the sapphire light. But my heart ticked ever faster.
I couldn’t sort why our enemies could wield the power of Ovatar. How could they capture it and seal it into a lantern? The monster that made me muck his stables was just that—a monster. Why would Ovatar ever bless them?
While I wrestled with the growing unease, slowly sleep crept over me and smothered me like a lead blanket.